Fastest Known Times (FKTs)
Fastest Known Times (FKTs) have exploded in popularity in recent years. But what is an FKT? Who can submit one? Who are the people out there setting FKTs, and what more can we do to help support those people or what can we do to attempt one ourselves?
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There’s been a lot of buzz in recent years about fastest known times — or FKTs, as the lingo goes. In 2020 when the pandemic shut down the world and cancelled races, runners sought out alternative adventures, including FKTs.
What Is an FKT?
A Fastest Known Time (FKT) is, as the name suggests, the known speed record for a given route. The emphasis here is known time: there may be faster times out there in the ether, but if no one reports the time, then no one knows that time. This is exactly what Peter Bakwin and Buzz Burrell discovered in 1999 when they attempted a thru-run of the John Muir Trail (JMT); despite thorough research, they couldn’t identify in the long history of the JMT the actual speed record, and so they coined the term “fastest known time”, shared their experience in a 2001 Trail Runner Magazine article, and launched a discussion forum to help track FKTs. In 2018 Bakwin, Burrell, and Jeff Schuler evolved the discussion forum into the website fastestknowntime.com where individuals can submit new routes or FKTs, and a small army of regional editors review and verify submissions. While the website was sold to Outside Interactive Inc. (the owners of Outside magazine, as well as the now-online publications of Trail Runner and Climbing magazines) in March 2022, it has so far maintained its homegrown, self-styled adventure vibe.
FKTs sometimes enter the media zeitgeist when a new premier route has its record broken (think Scott Jurek breaking the Appalachian Trail FKT as accounted in his book North: Finding My Way While Running the Appalachian Trail*) but there are thousands of other routes worldwide that can have an FKT recorded. Technically, anyone can submit a new route for FKTs, given that the route is “notable and distinct enough so that others will be interested in repeating it” and meets other guidelines and submission instructions (which typically involves some information on why the route is significant, route logistics including distance and vertical gain, a GPX file, and images). The FKT website at this time only tracks routes intended for running/hiking, though you may find FKT information elsewhere on the web for cycling, paddling, climbing, or other sports. Unlike Strava routes or segments, which could be created by anyone anywhere, the focus for FKTs is on routes with some degree of significance.
Trail markers for the Mountains-to-Sea Trail - Neusiok Trail segment (FKT routes exist for both of these!)
Who Can Submit an FKT?
Once a route has been established, anyone can submit a new FKT as long as they follow the verification guidelines and include a GPX (or similar) file or link to Strava or other online activity recording the FKT attempt. Unlike Strava though, only a new FKT is accepted; if you don’t set the new record, there are no leaderboards (though for some routes where the FKT has been broken multiple times you may see a history of FKTs listed).
FKTs can be set as a solo or group record in the categories:
Female
Male
Non-binary
Mixed Gender Teams
Additionally, FKTs may be set based on:
Unsupported: no aid received, and you carried everything you need (with water from natural sources or public taps — no commercial/private taps though — allowed). This includes no spectators allowed
Self-Supported: You can receive aid along the way via anything “equally available” to anyone else, i.e. resupplying food by purchasing groceries, staying at a motel, etc. No aid from friends, family, or spectators is allowed though
Supported: You can have as much support as you enlist, as long as you are self-powered. This includes friends, family, spectators, crew, and pacers (even if you just received support once).
And finally, some (but not all) routes may have a direction specified (e.g. North-South or South-North), and/or variations (including one direction, or out-and-back, etc.)
How Can I Find an FKT?
With over 5,000 routes recorded worldwide, you can explore, search, and filter to find routes on the FKT website. Alternatively, you can also look up FKTs by athlete.
FKTs 1985-2020. Photo courtesy of fastestknowntime.com
FKTs During the Pandemic
While the FKT website and various high-profile FKT attempts in recent years contributed to the popularity of FKTs, the number of FKTs reported during the pandemic lockdown skyrocketed. As races and organized events were cancelled, runners (elite, amateur, and recreational alike) turned to solo adventures. In 2020, the FKT website saw almost 400% increase in participation in the US, with 2,976 new FKTs in the US set that year (source).
Women Who FKT
But while FKT attempts grew in popularity, the majority of recorded FKTs were set by men. Marta Fisher, a trail ultrarunner based in Portland, Oregon, noticed the discrepancy between the FKTs recorded by men vs. women in the Pacific Northwest, and recruited a team of women (Danielle Snyder, Teri Smith, Dana Katz, and Stacey Lee) to address that in 2022. The Women Who FKT project aimed to inspire and empower women to create new FKT routes and submit new women’s FKTs to level the balance, and also diversify the field of FKT setters.
By the end of 2022, the Women Who FKT project beat their goals!
Women Who FKT: 198 total FKTs set in 2022 in Oregon and Washington, with 88 set by women, 13 set by mixed, and 97 set by men
Women Who FKT supported 103 women to set their first ever FKT
Women Who FKT: Diversity in FKT Setters - 21 FKTs in the project were set by members of underrepresented communities
However, there are still many routes in the Pacific Northwest that don’t have any women’s FKTs set, as well as many routes throughout the US and worldwide with no women’s FKTs, so the group recently announced its continuation through 2023. Check out the Women Who FKT project to learn more and get involved!
(For more information on the project, please check out Zoë Rom’s Trail Runner article “Women Who FKT”)
FKTs in North Carolina
Yours truly after I finished my FKT of the Art Loeb Trail!
But shifting my gaze more locally, there are so many FKT opportunities in North Carolina and the surrounding area. I’ve personally set three FKTs (Art Loeb SOBO - though my record has since been broken, yay!; the 50 mile Raleigh Greenway Loop; and The Priest & Three Ridges as a mixed team), and they were all fantastic adventures!
I’ll go ahead and admit: I’m not a fast runner. I hemmed and hawed over whether or not I should post my first FKT (Art Loeb Trail). I knew from the Strava segments and various rumblings online that there were women who had done the route already faster than I ever could. But at the same time, the concept here is the fastest known time. If someone had a big accomplishment but didn’t share it, then it’s not known. And while I don’t want to do anything that takes away from or minimizes anyone else’s accomplishments, I also want to encourage and empower others to just get out there and do the big scary adventures. If there’s no bar, then why not just set it? I’ll readily admit that my times are breakable. But I suppose that’s the thing, right? To break something, you first have to know it’s there.
So here it is!
Looking at the list of FKT routes in North Carolina (of which I compiled 74 routes - not including the two summit challenges), only 26 routes have any women’s FKTs recorded. That’s only 35% of FKT routes in NC have women’s FKTs recorded — and I didn’t even sort through all the route variations or check for non-binary categories!
So let’s do this! Let’s chip away at the list. I compiled a starting list of FKT routes, links to the routes, some info on region and terrain, distance posted, and whether there are any women’s FKTs posted for the route. (This info was updated as on January 22, 2023 and is subject to change). Feel free to peruse the list below, find some routes that seem appealing, and tackle some routes! (And if you need help with planning, logistics, training, or support, join the Women Who FKT listserv and/or reach out to me via a comment or email!)
Criticisms of FKTs
And, in the spirit of fair journalism, it’s worth noting a few fair criticisms of FKT attempts (plus my thoughts).
“Why does everything have to be a competition?”
Who says this is a competition? This is a record and it is data. We can make this a collaborative project rather than a competition!
“Why can’t you just slow down and enjoy it?”
Who says we’re not slow and/or we’re not enjoying it? If there are no records set yet, then go whatever pace you like! And if you’re going faster, have fun out there! Also…just because someone is adventuring in the outdoors one way doesn’t mean it should affect you. Hike your own hike, run your own run, and no matter how you’re out there adventuring responsibly, just have fun!
“You’re exploiting the land/indigenous peoples” and/or “you’re propagating a colonialist mindset of ‘conquering’ the land”
These are fair criticisms, but I’d also challenge anyone who is attempting an FKT to do so in the spirit that honors the land and its peoples, and embark from a place of curiosity rather than conquest. Do it for the adventure, and do it for yourself. Heck, go do a route (even if it already has an FKT recorded) just for the sake of seeing someplace amazing. No matter what, do all things with love and respect, and I’m sure you’ll have a wonderful adventure.